Exhibiting apparatus



Oct. 17, 1944. w. EDDY EXHIBITING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 7, .1941

INVENTOR. WILL/jg C. EDDY ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 17, 1944 EXHIBITIN G APPARATUS William C. Eddy, Kenilworth, Ill., assig-nor to Radio Corporation of America, acorporation of Delaware Application January 7, 1941, Serial No. 373,399

4 Claims.

My invention relates, in general, to exhibiting apparatus and more particularly to such apparatus when used for purposes of instruction and/or direction.

Most heretofore known forms of exhibiting'apparatus have suffered from the disadvantage that the material which is to be exhibited must be recorded or fixed for some time prior to the operation of the exhibit and during the exhibition is not subject to change. Accordingly, it is one of the objects of my invention to provide an exhibiting apparatus in which the material to be exhibited may be added to, removed, or changed at will, or be to operate in any desired sequence of exhibition that may please the exhibitor.

In the art of television broadcasting it has been found necessary and desirable to have announcers or persons such as news commentators, or masters of ceremony on some types of programs. Since the use of a single camera for covering either a plurality of scenes or for both short shots and long shots of the same scene is not feasible, several cameras are usually utilized, and the view from each camera is monitored by directors who choose the particular scene which is being transmitted from a particular camera. Instructions. then may be given to the camera operators by means of an ordinary telephone and headphone arrangement, but obviously such an arrangement cannot be used by an announcer or a master of ceremonies. Accordingly, it is another of the objects of my invention to provide an exhibiting apparatus by means of which it will be practicable and feasible to give to such an announcer instructions at any desired time.

It has been suggested heretofore that announcers or masters of ceremony might receive instructions and/or cues from. a projection apparatus in which theinstructions and/or cues have been projected on a screen. This sufiers from several disadvantages, amongst which is the fact that in the usual type of projection exhibiting apparatus the material to be exhibited must be recorded some time previously to the exhibition. Accordingly, it is another of the objects of my invention to provide an exhibiting apparatus in which the material to be exhibited may be developed on the spur of the moment, and which does not necessarily have to be recorded for some time previous to the ex hibition.

The present invention has been found particularly useful for use by such persons as news commentators. The present apparatus allows the various items of the news .to'be brought to the attention of the commentator at particular tention of the commentator without interrupting.

the program, and in television work this is particularly vital. Accordingly, it is another of the objects of my invention to provide a device by which a script may be broken into distinct thoughts, and in which the particular portion of the script which is desired to be emphasized is brought forward at the proper time.

In view of the fact that the presently known exhibiting apparatus which has been used is a rear projection type of prompting device, and is considerably'bulky, it necessarily must be placed either to the right or to the left of the television cameras when used during a program. In order to be, cued properly with such devices of the prior art, it is necessary that the person talking, such as the news commentator, move his eyes laterally in order to see the cues. This is distinctly disadvantageous because the shape of the eye is such that such lateral movement is very apparent to audiences of the program. The proposed apparatus being very small, can be mounted on or in a television camera in close proximity to the lens which is registering the subject, and accordingly no apparent shift of the eyes may be needed. Thus, the eyes of the person talking are kept on the camera lenses.

Again, such a projection apparatus when used in conjunction with television broadcasts suffers from the very severe disadvantage that such equipment necessitates the use of a considerable amount of space in the studio, and in itself is usually not compact. Accordingly, it is another of the objects of my invention toprovide a device whose compactness lends itself readil to its use in television studios.

Again, since television, similarly to audible programs, must be correctly timed, it is highly important that the announcer or the master of ceremonies, or other participants, be instructed, if. necessary, as to their cues or actions in order that a smooth, progressive program may be transmitted. Accordingly, it is another of the objects of my invention to provide an exhibiting apparatus in which the material to be exhibited may be accurately displayed in any desired time sequence.

Accordingly, amongst the objects of my invention are:

1. To provide an exhibitin apparatus in which the material to be exhibited may he added to, removed, or changed at will, or be made to operate in any desired sequence of exhibition that may please the exhibitor.

2. To provide an exhibiting apparatus by means of which it will be practicable and feasible to give to such an announcer instructions at any desired time.

3. To provide an exhibiting apparatus in which the material to be exhibited may be developed on the spur of the moment, and which does not necessarily have to be recorded for some time previous to the exhibition.

4. To provide a device by which a script may be broken into distinct thoughts, and in which the particular portion of the script is desired to be emphasized is brought forward at the proper time.

5. To provide an apparatus which, being very small, can be mounted on or in the television camera in close proximity to the lens which is registering the subject, and accordingly no' apparent shift of the eyes may be needed. Thus, the eyes of the person talking are kept on the camera lens.

6. To provide a device whose compactness lends itself readily to its use in television studios.

'7. To provide an exhibiting apparatus in which the material to be exhibited may be accurately displayed in any desired time sequence.

My invention, in general, contemplates the use of a spiral feed member which may be driven either synchronously or in interrupted fashion. The material to be exhibited is placed so as to be guided in a definite path by definite guide members. The material to be exhibited is then fed forward along the rotated spiral and in a predetermined path until it reaches the end of the spiral, at which time the material is directed along a path which brings it into a position so that it comes within the field of view of an observer. This is accomplished by a light which is directed onto the material and a magnifying lens arrangement, the latter being interposed between the material and an observer.

My invention will best be understood by reference to the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 2 is a side or elevation View.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken across the line 3, 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a plan view of the apparatus. A housing I is shown containing a motor H driving a spiral member I2 through a gear reduction unit l3. Positioned one on either side of the spiral member l2 are guide rods [4 and I5, which will be shown more clearly hereinafter in Fig. 2. These guide rods are adapted to support and guide members such as cards, sheets and the like on which the material to be exhibited is either held or recorded, and a number of these cards 16 are indicated at spaced intervals. The housing contains at the lower section thereof an aperture I! which is adapted to have held therein an objective 11. The aperture lens will be indicated more clearly hereinafter in Fig. 2. Also positioned at the lower section of the housing is a lamp and reflecting unit I8. A potentiometer type of unit .32 is provided for use with the lamp and resection thereof so as to run substantially parallel fleeting unit l8 so that the light in the housing of the device may be controlled and placed at any desired light level. It will be recognized that substitutes may be made which will not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as, for instance, in; actual experimental work a spring type of motor has been used.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is shown a side elevation of the arrangement. The housing II] has an aperture in the top thereof through which the material to be exhibited may be entered and placed in operative relationship with the spiral l2 and the guide rods [4 and Hi. In this view there is brought out the shape of the guide rods, the rods being in general straight at the upper to the major axis of the spiral. At the extremity of the spiral the rod is bent sharply downwardly and back towards the rear of the housing where it contacts the housing at the position 2|. The shape of the rods is such that the card is brought into focal relationship with the lens 22 at the point 33 on the rods. Upon an additional card moving downwardly along the rods, the card which has previously been stopped at the point 33 will be pushed toward the back of the device, and the cardswill gradually stack themselves up by being pushed backwardly by other cards coming into the focal position, hence each new card is maintained in good focal relationship with the lens. After a number of the cards have stacked up they may be removed by pulling them from the ends of the guide rods by reaching through the bottom of the device upon releasing the latch member 3| and swinging the bottom of the box or housing hinged at the point 30. The relative position of the projection lens 22 and the aperture I1 is also brought out in this View. Also,

the energizing leads for the motor H are indicated as 23 and 24, with a switch member 25 for starting and stopping the motor. For purposes of simplicity no energizing leads have been shown connected to the lamp in the unit I8. The motor, as shown, is provided with a control switch 25 in one of the leads in order to control its movement. The energizing switch may be hand or foot controlled. In some instances, as where a news commentator is broadcasting, by merely pushing his foot on a contact type of switch he can release a new news item to be commented upon at any time that he may so choose. In addition to this, some control should be had by the director of the program who is usually a fair distance away from the persons participating, and who is usually located in the monitoring booth of the studio. A second control may be provided for such purpose so that whenever a new one is to be given the director himself may, by energizing the motor circuit, cause the cue card to be dropped into a position where it will be visible by the person or persons on the program.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown a sectional view taken along the line 3, 3 of Fig. 2, and this view is for the purpose of showing the engagement between the guide rods l4 and I5 and the cards or sheet material or the like on which the material to be exhibited is either held or recorded. One card member l6 has been indicated in operative relationship with the spiral l2, and another card IS, on which is shown a small amount of recorded material, has been indicated to show how the card is directed downwardly by the guide members. It should be noted that these cards may be easily placed on the guide members I4 and l 5 by means of the slightly cut away portion 25 and the hole 25. The operation of the device is as follows.

The material to be exhibited is either held by, or recorded on, or marked on the back of a card member such as the cards It shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the card is entered through the aperture in the top of the housing in a position so that the material to be exhibited is upside down and facing the rear of the housing. Easy engagement of the card with the guide rods is made through the slit 25 in each of th cards. The card will then be positioned in the space'between the turns of the spiral l2 and the latter being driven by the motor II, will force the card progressively forward until the card gets to the end of the spiral, and then the card will turn over and due to gravity will fall along the lower section of the guide rod as shown by the card |5(Z. Upon reaching the end position 2| on the guide rod I5 the card will stop and will then be in the path of the objective lens 22. The unit [8 throws a light on the card and the material such as cues, instructions, and the like recorded on the card may be read at a considerable distance through the magnifying and objective lens 22. The advantages of such a device are considerable. In the first place, the motor I I may be a synchronous motor, and the cards may be placed on the upper section of the guide rods at predetermined spaced intervals so that the cards will fall into a viewing position at a definite time, and hence a timed sequence of cues is possible, although it will be appreciated that an intermittent energizing of the motor may be used and that the movement of the spiral member need not be in any particular timed sequence. Again, cards may be admitted at any time through the aperture in the device so that any instructions which may be either necessary or desirable at any particular time may be written on a card and placed near the end of the spiral where it will be forced forwardly and will fall downwardly on the guide rods, and come into position, where it may be viewed by the master of ceremonies, announcer, or other interested persons. Since the guide rod is in resilient engagement with the rear of the housing at the position 2!, cards may be removed through an aperture in the bottom of the housing and for this purpose the bottom of the housing is hinged by means of the hinge 39 and is kept closed by the latch member 3|.

It will be appreciated that there may be departures from my invention which will fall fairly within the spirit and scope of the arrangement as illustrated in the drawing, and accordingly I am not limited to the particular showing but consider myself to be entitled to arrangements which fall fairly within the spirit and scope of the invention as identified in the hereinafter appended claims.

What I claim. is:

1. Exhibiting apparatus comprising a housing having an upper section and a lower section with a loading aperture in the upper section and a viewing aperture in the lower section, guiding and support means carried in the upper section of the housing and extending into the lower section of the housing, said guiding and support means in the upper section of the housing being adapted to support and position exhibit slides in-- serted through said aperture, a spiral feed mechanism positioned in co-operative relationship relative to said guiding and supporting means and located in a position to contact the edge portion of supported slides for moving the said slides while positioned and. supported by the said guiding and support means to a position whereat the supported and positioned slides move by gravity into an exhibiting position relative to the viewing aperture.

2. Apparatus for exhibiting substantially rigid indicia bearing sheets comprising a housing having upper and lower apertured sections, a plurality of guide rod means having one end rigidly secured to the upper portion of the housing to provide a section to support and position the indicia'bearing sheets, and the other end extending into the lower portion of thehousing and resiliently engaging the rear of said housing, the aperture of said upper section being located substantially adjacent the section of the guide rods serving for positioning and supporting the sheet material and the aperture of lower section being arranged to provide a, viewing path of the resiliently engaged end of the guide rod means, a spiral feed element positioned substantially intermediate the said guide rod means in a location such that indicia bearing sheets supported and positioned by the guide rod 'means are adapted to rest intermediate the spiral turns of the feed mechanism, means for rotating the spiral feed mechanism to move any indicia bearing sheets supported by the guide rod means laterally thereof in a direction away from the area whereat the guide rod means are rigidly secured to the housingso that said supported sheets are adapted to move into exhibiting position along the guide rod means at the lower portion of the housing, and means at the lower portion of the housing closely adjacent to the resiliently engaged end of the guide rod means for resting the sheets after their successive removal from the exhibiting position the resiliently supported end of the guide rod means permitting removal of sheets accumulated on the means for resting the sheets after exhibition.

3. Exhibiting apparatus comprising a housing including a viewing aperture and a display inserting aperture, card supporting means adjacent said display inserting aperture, a screw feed device adjacent said card supporting means to move a sup-ply of cards from said inserting aperture toward said viewing aperture, and display cards each including readily detachable means for engaging said supporting means and said screw feed device when a card is inserted through said viewing aperture during operation of the exhibiting apparatus.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3, wherein said card supporting means comprise rods each having a portion substantially parallel to said screw feed device and a portion extending downwardly in a substantially straight line to a bent portion on said downwardly extending portion, the card to be exhibited resting on said bent portion whereby said display cards are held in an exhibiting relationship until the passage of another exhibiting card to the position of exhibition.

WILLIAM C. EDDY. 

